What to do in Salzburg

The hills are ALIVE in Salzburg! Mostly
because this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Sound of Music,
plus the annual all-singing, all-dancing Salzburg Festival is just
around the corner. Annabelle Spranklen gives you the lowdown…

1) Where to stay

The
Goldgasse Hotel

If you're quick, you might just manage to nab a room at
the newly refurbished Goldgasse Hotel in time for the Salzburg Festival, which runs from 18 July to
30 August. Salzburg's windy alleys, luminous green hills and
Baroque squares are livelier than ever at this time of year, and
nowhere catches the mood more than this clever little 13th-century
den in the heart of the historic quarter. It's small, intimate and
insanely charming. The front door - wide open - lets in the city's
sounds of street music and nattering locals. Inside, it's a mash-up
of old and new - tiled floors and Salzburg-oak beams next to bronze
vases and bold yellow chairs. The rooms all have mini Smeg fridges
and a Sound of Music channel (so you can watch it all day,
every day if you really want to), and you are a baton's throw from
the Salzach river and Mozart's birthplace. If you can't get a room,
you'd be BONKERS not to make a dinner reservation in the downstairs
restaurant, where top-notch Austrian dishes like wiener schnitzel
and apple strudel are served up by seriously dishy waiters.

2) Where to drink

Jump in a taxi (or walk 30 minutes) from the hotel to
the Stiegl
Brewery - Austria's largest private brewery. Take the tour and
you'll see the whole brewing process and the world's TALLEST beer
tower. Plus a free Stiegl and pretzel are thrown in for the price -
how can you say no? If you just want to crash, we suggest you make
a beeline for the beer garden, settle under the chestnut trees and
drink your way through the tasting menu. If you've got a head for
heights, don't miss the whacking great 180-degree views of the city
from the terrace bar at Hotel Stein. Even if it's raining, it's worth
popping along just for a really, really good burger washed
down with a punchy mojito.

3) What to do

It's the law that when you go to Salzburg you MUST under all
circumstances go on a Sound of Music tour. Even if your
other half hasn't seen the end - they'll guess it soon enough. Panorama Tours are the biggest and most famous
in the city. You'll hop on a coach full of equally mad SoM
fans and make your way through a heap of locations from the film.
The first stop is Mirabell Gardens, where the cast chirped along
to 'Do-Re-Mi', then Leopoldskron Palace, the jaw-dropping Von Trapp
house by the lake where the boat capsized (it's now a hotel and
owned by Harvard University), and you even get to see the REAL-LIFE
gazebo where Liesl and Rolf sang 'Sixteen Going On Seventeen'.
Everyone will be so joyful - the entire coach will break into a
rendition of 'Edelweiss' on the way home. We are not kidding. If
you're planning on cramming in the sights and would rather not do
it on a coach, it's definitely worth getting your hands on a Salzburg Card (24 euros for 24 hours): it gives
you access to all the big tourist attractions, including the Museum of
Modern Art, Mozart's Birthplace and the Stiegl
Brewery.